Valve/IceFrog collaboration announced as DotA2

Huh? What’s an ancient? Well, it’s something that needs defending. Clearly. And Valve plans to help with Defense of the Ancients 2.

According to the press release, DotA 2 is “a massive sequel for one of the most played games in the world” and it’s slated to hit PC and Mac in 2011.

Like it’s predecessor, it will be blend of online RTS and RPG action and you can get the first details regarding the title over on GameInformer.

According to the site, the game runs on the Source engine, supports three-lane maps, has multiplayer competition with AI filling-in for players leaving the game, maintains the toon-style graphics of the original, and has Steamworks implemented along with Achievements.

It will also contain the full roster of 100 heroes from DotA Allstars.

The game also has a coaching system which was described as follows:

By logging in as a coach, veteran players can do their part to help out newer folks. Valve hasn’t entirely decided on the specifics of how newbies and coaches will be matched up, but once they’re together a few things happen. The coach sees the pupil’s screen, and gets private voice and chat channels to communicate with them. The coach probably won’t be able to take control of anything directly (once again, the details are currently under discussion), but information is power in Dota 2 and having a mentor whispering in your ear can make all the difference in the world.

Good news for all then. Even a little added drama from employees at Valve as well.

Earlier this week, the game’s developer IceFrog posted: “Hey guys, Game Informer dropped by the office last week to take a look at what I’ve been working on with the rest of the team over the last year. They are going to post an article about it tomorrow on their website. I’ll give you guys a link to it as soon as it is published,” Defense of the Ancients creator Ice Frog said in a note on its forums.

A tweet from Game Informer EIC Andy McNamara then more or less laser etched the whole thing in stone.

Granted, this is hardly a surprise, seeing as the game’s existence was uncovered via trademark, which had Riot Games, well, rioting over Valve’s alleged move to own a gametype that a small army of modders came together to create.

Ultimately, the League of Legends developer filed a counter trademark to keep Valve and Ice Frog from spraying their territorial musk all over the genre. Because that’s how legal things work. With musk.

But trademarks are boring. Videogames, though, are fun! And Valve finally revealed the new videogame today. So yay!